Flagship of San Francisco's Maritime Museum fleet undergoes a $1.2 million facelift.

Bay Ship &Yacht Co. of Alameda, CA was chosen for this important restoration project because of their reputation for craftsmanship and knowledge of nearly-forgotten traditional shipbuilding skills such as hot structural riveting, caulking and hand rigging.

The Balclutha, a 114-year-old steel hulled square-rigger, is visited by about 200,000 people a year at San Francisco's Maritime National Historic Park. The 301 foot, three-masted ship was launched in Glasgow, Scotland in 1886 and rounded CapeHorn 17 times while transporting British coal to the West Coast and California grain to Europe. Her long career on the world's oceans during the great days of sail also included cargoes of lumber, whiskey and general freight.

Later sold and rechristened the "Star of Alaska", she transported fishermen and cannery workers to Alaska, bringing salmon back to California on the return trip. After being retired from the merchant trade in 1930, she was again renamed the "Pacific Queen" and spent a number of years as a floating carnival. She appeared in the original version of "Mutiny on the Bounty" with Clark Gable and Charles Laughton in 1935.

Over time the once-proud ship fell into decline, ending up a derelict on the Sausalito mudflats. The Maritime Museum purchased her for $25,000 in 1954, reinstated her original name, and began an intensive restoration period. The Balclutha went on public display at San Francisco's Pier 43 in 1955.

43 years on the waterfront had taken its toll. Last hauled out in 1986, the Balclutha was in need of some major work, including new Douglas fir and teak decks, serious mast repairs, hull repairs and maintenance (scraping 12 years of barnacles and mussels off her 3-story tall hull) and a new paint job.

The project inspired a search for craftsmen with rare skills such as master caulkers able to fill the seams of newly-laid decking with oakum, and master riveters. Since welding hadn't been developed in 1886, the ship was riveted together with hundred of thousands of specially crafted steel shanks. The drydocking process alone was a delicate operation - a five hour process with the dock master coordinating tugboat crew, docking crew & diver to carefully line up specially constructed heavy oak blocks to support the ship without breaking her back. Moving a National Histonc Landmark must be done slowly and with great precision!

The Balclutha restoration was completed in 1998.

Next Project >>